


People Weren't Meant To Fly

by MagmaticKobaian



Series: The Ship Of Theseus is helmed by angels [1]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Angels, Gen, One Shot, Post-Game(s), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24384256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagmaticKobaian/pseuds/MagmaticKobaian
Summary: Lloyd and Colette have been searching for Exspheres in the ruins of the Desian ranch, a tomb of stagnant machines and past atrocities. Lloyd still hasn't come to terms with being an angel yet, and feels that his humanity is decaying. Colette is there to remind him that he isn't alone.
Relationships: Colette Brunel & Lloyd Irving
Series: The Ship Of Theseus is helmed by angels [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760761
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	People Weren't Meant To Fly

No matter how many times Lloyd came back to the ruins of the Desian ranches, it never failed to fill him with revulsion. If it weren’t for his task to gather up and destroy Exspheres, he would have never returned. Unfortunately, it seemed no matter how many times they searched the ranches, a new cache of Exspheres would always spring up deep in the bowels of the facility, requiring the long and arduous task of transporting them upwards and out. Lloyd greatly appreciated Colette’s help, if not for the extra manpower, then for the company.

“I think this is the last box,” Colette said as she hefted a giant container into Lloyd’s arms. “We should take a break after this, anyway.”

“Good idea,” Lloyd adjusted his grip to prevent the box from falling. He’d gladly take any offer to get out of the damn ranch, even if only for a bit.

The walk up was always the worst part. The elevators had failed a while ago, leaving the long way up as the only real option. Given how deep underground some of these storage spaces were, this meant climbing up a seemingly endless series of stairs. For a while, only the sounds of two sets of footsteps monotonously clicking on metal stairs could be heard as they spiraled upwards from the abyss.

“Why’d you think they made these places so big?” Colette broke the silence as they approached the top of another flight. “I get all the facilities and stuff, but what’s with all the warehouses?”

Both of them had been wondering the same thing for a while. The amount of Exspheres they had stockpiled was staggering: far more than there were Desians, and maybe even half-elves. 

“How long do you think they were running these ranches, like a few thousand years?” Lloyd divided his concentration away from going up the stairs. “A thousand years is a really long time. I just don’t get the point of any of this. Even if you consider Mithos’s stupid plan, this is way more than they really—”

Lloyd stepped too far, and his foot met with thin air. With his balance thrown completely off, his center of gravity swayed far to the left, right over a yawning gap that went down for miles. There was a gasp from behind him, and his mind went numb as he froze in fear.

The panic in his mind was quieted when he felt a familiar set of hands on his back, pushing him upwards, stabilizing him. Once he was no longer in danger of falling, Lloyd took a few steps back from the ledge, then felt his legs give out as he sat against the wall.

“Lloyd? Are you okay?”

_No,_ he thought.

“Yeah,” Lloyd said unconvincingly. “Just… gimme a sec to catch my breath.”

Thankfully, the box hadn’t fallen along with him. Falling to his death was one thing, but having to climb more stairs was a far scarier prospect. The more time he had to reflect on almost falling, the dumber he felt. After all, couldn’t he have just flown back up himself?

Lloyd shook his head. He hadn’t really talked about it with Colette, but the idea of being an angel was still… unnerving. After seeing those soulless dolls on Welgaia, and after everything that had happened to Colette, he sometimes wondered if the same thing would ever happen to him. Would he lose all of his memories and feelings as well, some day?

Moping in the dying ruins of the Desian ranch wasn’t getting him anywhere. Putting aside his feelings for the time being, Lloyd stood up, box in hand, and continued the march upwards.

* * *

It was nighttime when they finally got the box to the top. Lloyd had been roughly estimating the time they had spent in the ranch by the position of the sun and moon in the sky after each trip, and concluded they had spent roughly a week just getting Exspheres out of the ranch. Colette stretched as she walked around the heap of boxes they had put together.

“Wow, we really got a lot this time!”

Lloyd placed the box at the foot of the pile, which had been built in a haphazard way.

“I don’t wanna see any stairs for a month.”

Colette looked back, surprised.

“What? You aren’t tired, are you?”

Lloyd shook his head.

“You already know we don’t get tired anymore.”

Colette smiled sadly. The bittersweet moment was broken as Colette seemed to ponder something, then looked at Lloyd.

“If you didn’t want to take the stairs, why didn’t you just fly?”

Lloyd froze. Suddenly, the moon was looking very interesting, and he pointedly avoided meeting Colette’s gaze. She frowned.

“Is something wrong?”

“You know, it’s just—” Lloyd had blurted out the start of a reply before really thinking about the middle or end part. Colette waited patiently for him to finish the thought.

“I kinda…” He hesitated. “I kinda don’t remember how to fly.”

“That’s okay! I can show you how to, if you want.” Colette beamed, reaching out a hand.

“W-well, it’s not just about not knowing how to,” He replied hurriedly, taking a step back. “Every time I think about using my wings, I think about all those angels on Welgaia and stuff.”

Colette blinked, retracting her hand slightly. “Oh.”

Having been exposed by Colette’s innocent line of questioning, Lloyd felt his face heat up. He realized how much of an idiot he had been. Colette didn’t want to be down in the ranch any longer than Lloyd did, but he had kept both of them there for far too long just because of his stupid phobia. He— 

Before he could finish beating himself up, He felt a strong force pull him up by the waist, and he was suddenly rushing up through the sky, until he came to a stop far above the ground. Before he could even realize what happened, he heard a voice in his ear.

“Don’t look down!”

The grip was gone, the sensation of falling taking its place. Lloyd swiveled around to look upwards. Colette was standing — or floating, more accurately — above him. More than a little irritated, Lloyd went right back up to meet her.

“What’s the big idea!?”

“Yay, it worked!”

Lloyd took a second to think about what she meant, until he realized there was only one way he could’ve been standing in thin air and not falling.

“Oh.”

Lloyd’s obnoxiously huge wings bathed both of them in a turquoise light, drowning out the pink of Colette’s wings and the white of the pale moonlight. Despite the wings beating rhythmically behind them both, they were noiseless. It contributed to the uncanny feeling that seemed to surround Cruxis Crystals. The light was intense, but gave off no heat. In other words, completely artificial. Lloyd started to breathe a bit faster.

“Is everything alright, Lloyd?”

Lloyd didn’t reply. He remembered how Welgaia had no temperature, either, how it had that same sterile quality. He remembered how the angels’ wings moved in a perfect mechanical rhythm, like they were machines. If he wasn’t human anymore, then what was he?

The light was gone, and Lloyd realized he was falling. His descent was quickly slowed by Colette, whose face was lined with worry.

“Lloyd! Lloyd, are you okay?”

He opened his mouth to say that he was, but paused. As much as it pained him to think about being an angel, it hurt him even more to see Colette suffering because of him.

“No.”

Colette gently lowered him down to the ground, thankfully a distance away from the ranch. They now stood by the banks of a river, which was bordered by the deep forests of Iselia. She took a few steps back, then began running her fingers through each other, looking away from Lloyd and towards the ground.

“Um… If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine…”

“No, I’ll tell you about it. Just, uh, give me a second to think.”

The crisp night air did wonders for calming Lloyd down. Being away from nature for so long had made him go stir crazy. He took a deep breath, reveling in how alive everything felt. He sat on the ground, just to be a bit closer to it.

Then he opened up.

He confessed everything to Colette: How he felt like he had lost a part of his humanity, how he was still haunted by Welgaia and the events of the Journey of Regeneration, and how he felt like using his wings would be losing even more of what he had lost.

When he had finished, Colette simply walked over to his side and sat beside him, leaning against him. She felt warm.

“Do you remember what you told me?” The two of them looked out at the river, where the moon was reflected upon its surface. “About how, even if you change, you’re still you?”

“But—” Lloyd tried to interject, but Colette gently put a finger to his mouth, as if to shush him.

“But…” Colette curled in a bit tighter. “I still have those thoughts too. If angels live even longer than elves, what’s going to happen when all of our friends get older and we don’t? And… and even though I got my sense of taste and smell and touch back, I still never get hungry, and painful things don’t hurt as much as they used to. But there’s one thing that always gives me hope.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s you.” Lloyd felt his face heat up. “No matter what, we’ll always have each other by our side.”

Unable to think of a response, Lloyd simply let the moment linger in the air. 

“You’re warm, you know.” Colette’s voice was muffled.

“Y-you are too.” It was an awkward reply, but a meaningful one: they both had confirmation that something in them was still human.

After what felt like hours, Colette stood up, and Lloyd followed suit, until they were facing each other.

“The other thing I want to show you,” Colette began, a smile forming on her face, “is that flying doesn’t have to be about losing your senses.”

Colette took Lloyd’s hands into hers, as if they were about to dance.

“Do you want me to show you something?”

Lloyd nodded mutely. 

They wouldn’t touch the ground until the sun came up. They skimmed the surface of rivers, darted between the tops of trees, and cut through the clouds. What astounded Lloyd was how natural it all felt. He wondered if it wasn’t a result of having a developing Cruxis Crystal on him for the majority of his life, the instincts developing as a result. Normally, the thought might have sent a chill down his spine, but with Colette, he felt utterly freed. His senses were overwhelmed by the whipping of the wind, the sounds of animals, the flow of water. It invigorated him.

“You’re really good at this!” Colette laughed, as they spun around each other to form a circle.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah! I mean, it took me a long time to figure out how to get off the ground, let alone do any of those fancy flying tricks.”

Lloyd grinned. “Yeah, you’ve always been pretty clumsy.”

Colette laughed again, then flew straight forward, tackling Lloyd in a hug. The suddenness of it shocked Lloyd enough to cause his wings to disperse, and having the person she was holding start falling did the same thing to Colette. Before either of them could fly back upwards, they both hit the river, causing a gigantic splash and a noise that echoed throughout the mountains.

Lloyd and Colette both resurfaced at the same time, and they swam to the nearest shore. As Lloyd was wringing water out of his shoes, he heard Colette begin to apologize profusely.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Lloyd, I didn’t— I didn’t think that was going to happen! Now you’re all wet and I’m so sorry and—”

Lloyd held up a hand.

“What are you apologizing for, dummy?”

Colette sniffed. “What?”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. Honestly, with the way I was acting earlier, I deserved to get dunked into the river.”

Colette opened her mouth, likely to apologize for apologizing, but Lloyd just hugged her. The two looked out over the river, which was wreathed in fiery oranges and pinks from the approaching sunrise.

“We should probably get back to the ranch,” Lloyd said, internally kicking himself for ruining the mood. “I mean, those Exspheres aren’t going to destroy themselves…”

“Yeah, probably,” Colette said. A second later, she ran towards the river, flying into the air after a running start. “Race you there!”

“I’m not going to let you win that easily!” Lloyd yelled, running into the air after her. Even though there was still an unimaginable amount of work to be done, the road ahead didn’t seem to be as long as it had before.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time publicly posting anything I've written. Needless to say, I'm very nervous, but hopefully I can improve and continue writing what I enjoy. I'm probably going to stick to one-shots for the time being (since I have a mountain of half-finished fics), but I do want to create some more long-form writing in the future.  
> I put this in a series because I want to make more fics that explore some of the ideas touched upon here, but not necessarily have them be sequels to each other.


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